Charleston Southern used a strong first half and survived several Blue Hose rallies to come away with the 68-51 win over the Presbyterian College men’s basketball team in the first round of the Big South Tournament, held Tuesday evening in Charleston, S.C. Davon Bell led PC with 23 points, just four shy of his career-high.

Scoring the Match

A low scoring affair in the first half, both teams shot in the 30s, with CSU taking the slight, 35.5-31.8 advantage. Turnovers played an important part with PC recording 11 to the Bucs’ seven. CSU turned PC’s into 14 points, however. The Blue Hose scored three. The Bucs opened the half with seven straight, but the Blue Hose took advantage of four points by Davon Bell in a 6-2 run to cut the margin to three. With the margin again at three, 14-11, 12:19 to go, the Bucs outscored PC, 11-1, over the next 12 minutes to take a 13-point, 25-12, lead. PC responded with back to back baskets from Bell in the final two minutes to cut the margin to nine, 25-16, at the break.

CSU outscored PC 11-6 in the opening four and a half minutes to takes its largest lead thus far at 14, 36-22, 15:21 to go. Layups from Armel TeTe and JC Younger helped the Blue Hose curt the margin to 10, but that would be as close as the Blue Hose would get, with CSU using a 12-5 run to extend the lead to 17, 48-31, 7:51 left. A 7-3 run by PC made it a 14-point game, 5:51 to go, but eight unanswered by the Bucs, including back to back three-pointers from Christian Keeling and Phlandrous Fleming, took the home team up by 22, 62-40, 3:56 on the clock. PC and CSU traded baskets the remaining four minutes, with the home team coming out on top at the end, 68-51.

Player of the Game

Davon Bell finished four shy of his career-high with a team-leading 23 points, his sixth career 20-point game. Armel TeTe was one shy of his career-best with a team-leading 13 rebounds. Ty Jones led CSU with 17 points, with Mitchell Cortez pacing the team on the boards with seven and in assists with eight. Reggie Dillard closed out his career with 10 points on the night.

Stat of the Match

Charleston Southern shot 44.8% for the game, including 55.6% for the second half, while PC shot 37.7%. PC hit five three-pointers to CSU’s six, with rebounds tied at 34 apiece. PC led the turnover count, 13-8.

Notables

- PC’s eight blocks tied for second in the PC DI record book.

For the Record

PC finishes 11-21 overall, while Charleston Southern improves to 15-15 and advances to the Big South Tournament Quarterfinals.